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Friday, August 30, 2013

I haven't been able to confirm. We know that the federal government can call up and federalized state national guard units and it seems there would be too many indicators if this was true as the article professes.

Obama fearing a revolution against him by the states, has moved swiftly by nationalizing nearly all National Guard Forces in multiple states; Georgia, Alabama, Kansas, Minnesota, Tennessee, Virginia, Louisiana, South Carolina – to name a few. The Governors of the Great States of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia still have under their Command-and-Control the State Defense Forces to go against U.S. Federal forces should the need arise. Also important to note: There are NO U.S. laws prohibiting National Guard troops from also joining their State’s Defense Forces. This dilemma occurred during the Civil War with many “citizen soldiers” choosing to serve their states instead of the Federal Government.

Obama is angered by the several State Governors who have reestablished “State Defense Forces.” These forces are described as: “State Defense Forces (also known as State Guards, State Military Reserves, State Militias) in the United States are military units that operate under the sole authority of a state government; they are not regulated by the National Guard Bureau nor are they part of the Army National Guard of the United States. State Defense Forces are authorized by state and federal law and are under the command of the governor of each state. State Defense Forces are distinct from their state’s National Guard in that they cannot become federal entities.”

Mr. Obama is fearful of these State Defense Forces, in that he does not have control of said forces, and with the U.S. Military stretched to near breaking from multiple deployments and theatre actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, these State military forces would be under the direct command and authority of the Governors in which states have said forces. In essence, the Governors would have “de facto control” of the United States.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

From an article by Michael Synder, called "35 Facts To Scare A Baby Boomer", posted on the The Economic Collapse Blog, hich is a really good source for,..well,...news, predictions and reasons that we face a economic collapse.

If you have some people you are dripping prepping to, and we all know some of those people. Peeople who are can't stand by themselves,...people on the fence on gun issues, or just don't see the need for "military style" weapons in the hands of the common citizenry,....people who have maybe three days food in their house. Anyway,........without further ado, Michael Synder's excellent article.

If you want to frighten Baby Boomers, just show them the list of statistics in this article. The United States is headed for a retirement crisis of unprecedented magnitude, and we are woefully unprepared for it. At this point, more than 10,000 Baby Boomers are reaching the age of 65 every single day, and this will continue to happen for almost the next 20 years. The number of senior citizens in America is projected to more than double during the first half of this century, and some absolutely enormous financial promises have been made to them.

So will we be able to keep those promises to the hordes of American workers that are rapidly approaching retirement? Of course not. State and local governments are facing trillions in unfunded pension liabilities. Medicare is facing a 38 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years. The Social Security system is facing a 134 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years. Meanwhile, nearly half of all American workers have less than $10,000 saved for retirement.

The truth is that I was being incredibly kind when I said earlier that we are "woefully unprepared" for what is coming. The biggest retirement crisis in history is rapidly approaching, and a lot of the promises that were made to the Baby Boomers are going to get broken.

The following are 35 incredibly shocking statistics that will scare just about any Baby Boomer...

1. Right now, there are somewhere around 40 million senior citizens in the United States. By 2050 that number is projected to skyrocket to 89 million.

2. According to one recent poll, 25 percent of all Americans in the 46 to 64-year-old age bracket have no retirement savings at all.

3. 26 percent of all Americans in the 46 to 64-year-old age bracket have no personal savings whatsoever.

4. One survey that covered all American workers found that 46 percent of them have less than $10,000 saved for retirement.

5. According to a survey conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, "60 percent of American workers said the total value of their savings and investments is less than $25,000".

6. A Pew Research survey found that half of all Baby Boomers say that their household financial situations have deteriorated over the past year.

7. 67 percent of all American workers believe that they "are a little or a lot behind schedule on saving for retirement".

8. Today, one out of every six elderly Americans lives below the federal poverty line.

9. More elderly Americans than ever are finding that they must continue working once they reach their retirement years. Between 1985 and 2010, the percentage of Americans in the 65 to 69-year-old age bracket that were still working increased from 18 percent to 32 percent.

10. Back in 1991, half of all American workers planned to retire before they reached the age of 65. Today, that number has declined to 23 percent.

11. According to one recent survey, 70 percent of all American workers expect to continue working once they are "retired".

12. According to a poll conducted by AARP, 40 percent of all Baby Boomers plan to work "until they drop".

13. A poll conducted by CESI Debt Solutions found that 56 percent of American retirees still had outstanding debts when they retired.

14. Elderly Americans tend to carry much higher balances on their credit cards than younger Americans do. The following is from a recent CNBC article...

New research from the AARP also shows that those ages 50 and over are carrying higher balances on their credit cards -- $8,278 in 2012 compared to $6,258 for the under-50 population.

15. A study by a law professor at the University of Michigan found that Americans that are 55 years of age or older now account for 20 percent of all bankruptcies in the United States. Back in 2001, they only accounted for 12 percent of all bankruptcies.

16. Between 1991 and 2007 the number of Americans between the ages of 65 and 74 that filed for bankruptcy rose by a staggering 178 percent.

17. What is causing most of these bankruptcies among the elderly? The number one cause is medical bills. According to a report published in The American Journal of Medicine, medical bills are a major factor in more than 60 percent of the personal bankruptcies in the United States. Of those bankruptcies that were caused by medical bills, approximately 75 percent of them involved individuals that actually did have health insurance.

18. In 1945, there were 42 workers for every retiree receiving Social Security benefits. Today, that number has fallen to 2.5 workers, and if you eliminate all government workers, that leaves only 1.6 private sector workers for every retiree receiving Social Security benefits.

19. Millions of elderly Americans these days are finding it very difficult to survive on just a Social Security check. The truth is that most Social Security checks simply are not that large. The following comes directly from the Social Security Administration website...

The average monthly Social Security benefit for a retired worker was about $1,230 at the beginning of 2012. This amount changes monthly based upon the total amount of all benefits paid and the total number of people receiving benefits.

Could you live on about 300 dollars a week?

20. Social Security benefits are not going to stretch as far in future years. The following is from an article on the AARP website...

Social Security benefits won't go as far, either. In 2002, benefits replaced 39 percent of the average retirees salary, and that will decline to 28 percent in 2030, when the youngest boomers reach full retirement age, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

21. In the United States today, more than 61 million Americans receive some form of Social Security benefits. By 2035, that number is projected to soar to a whopping 91 million.

22. Overall, the Social Security system is facing a 134 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years.

23. As I wrote about in a previous article, the number of Americans on Medicare is expected to grow from 50.7 million in 2012 to 73.2 million in 2025.

24. Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38 trillion dollars over the next 75 years. That comes to approximately $328,404 for each and every household in the United States.

25. Today, only 10 percent of private companies in the U.S. provide guaranteed lifelong pensions for their employees.

26. Verizon's pension plan is underfunded by 3.4 billion dollars.

27. In California, the Orange County Employees Retirement System is estimated to have a 10 billion dollar unfunded pension liability.

28. The state of Illinois has accumulated unfunded pension liabilities of more than 77 billion dollars.

29. Pension consultant Girard Miller told California's Little Hoover Commission that state and local government bodies in the state of California have 325 billion dollars in combined unfunded pension liabilities.

30. According to Northwestern University Professor John Rauh, the latest estimate of the total amount of unfunded pension and healthcare obligations for retirees that state and local governments across the United States have accumulated is 4.4 trillion dollars.

31. In 2010, 28 percent of all American workers with a 401(k) had taken money out of it at some point.

32. Back in 2004, American workers were taking about 30 billion dollars in early withdrawals out of their 401(k) accounts every single year. Right now, American workers are pulling about 70 billion dollars in early withdrawals out of their 401(k) accounts every single year.

33. Today, 49 percent of all American workers are not covered by an employment-based pension plan at all.

34. According to a recent survey conducted by Americans for Secure Retirement, 88 percent of all Americans are worried about "maintaining a comfortable standard of living in retirement".

35. A study conducted by Boston College's Center for Retirement Research found that American workers are $6.6 trillion short of what they need to retire comfortably.

So what is the solution? Well, one influential organization of business executives says that the solution is to make Americans wait longer for retirement. The following is from a recent CBS News article...

An influential group of business CEOs is pushing a plan to gradually increase the full retirement age to 70 for both Social Security and Medicare and to partially privatize the health insurance program for older Americans.

The Business Roundtable's plan would protect those 55 and older from cuts but younger workers would face significant changes. The plan unveiled Wednesday would result in smaller annual benefit increases for all Social Security recipients. Initial benefits for wealthy retirees would also be smaller.

But considering the fact that there aren't nearly enough jobs for all Americans already, perhaps that is not such a great idea. If we expect Americans to work longer, then we are going to need our economy to start producing a lot more good jobs than it is producing right now.

Of course the status quo is not going to work either. There is no way that we are going to be able to meet the financial obligations that are coming due.

The federal government, our state governments and our local governments are already drowning in debt and we are already spending far more money than we bring in each year. How in the world are we going to make ends meet as our obligations to retirees absolutely skyrocket in the years ahead?

What is going on in Detroit right now is a perfect example of what will soon be happening all over the nation. Many city workers stuck with their jobs for decades because of the promise of a nice pension at the end of the rainbow. But now those promises are going up in smoke. There has even been talk that retirees will only end up getting about 10 cents for every dollar that they were promised.

Monday, August 19, 2013

While I applaude his workmanlike efforts to build a survival skills task list, this list is not complete as Jeremy admits. I don't think one person could build a complete list,...at least not in a short period of time. I decidely to post Jeremy's list and add my own, in italics, as his tasks generated thoughts of my own. Undoubtably the readers of this will have many more.

Jeremy's aticle:

Survival is based largely on two things: a positive mental attitude and knowledge. With those two covered, you can make up for any lack of tools. Knowledge doesn’t break, wear out, and short of forgetting a thing or two, you generally can’t lose it.

Below, I’ve compiled a list of skills I think everyone should know. This is by no means a “complete” list because there is always room to learn more, and the more you know, the greater your chances of survival. But this will give you a solid foundation and a far broader skill set than most people. Everyone should know how to:

Drive a stick shift. Jump start a car; siphon or procure fuel from a disabled/abandoned vehicle.
Swim. Make an improvised flotation device.
Start a fire without matches or a lighter. Use flint and steel, a magnesium fire starter, a magnifying glass and the bow method to build a fire.
Build a garden
Use herbal remedies
Produce beer/wine
Build your local community. Develop an early warning system(s) and communications methods within your neighborhood.
Tan leather
Cure/smoke meat
Make soap
Construct animal/fish traps. Construct and emplace booby traps and early warning devices.
Make activated charcoal
Survive hypothermia. Recognize and treat Hot and Cold weather injuries.
Properly load a backpack
Conduct basic repairs (home, auto, equipment, etc.)
Operate a ham radio. Develop and use a radio brevity code system.
Defend yourself without a weapon
Identify surveillance
Build a rainwater collection system
Weld
Accurately fire an arrow
Dehydrate food.
Construct snowshoes
Build a raft with a tarp
Navigate using the stars. Navigate with a compass (dead reckoning); read a map (terrain features and marginal information; perform intersection and resection using a compass and a map.
Right an overturned raft Build with stone/brick (basic masonry)
Cut down a tree with an ax
Forage for food. Identify edible (and poisonous plants).
Sew and/or make clothing
Pilot a boat
Shoot a firearm accurately. Be able to disassmble, clean, assemble and perform a functions check on firearms. Be able to perform remedial actions on stoppages.
Find water
Utilize camouflage. Build a single fighting position. Build mutually supporting fighting positions. Build a camouflaged and concealed observation/listening post.
Construct a pond
Can food
Ski
Dig a latrine
Build with wood (basic carpentry)
Determine authenticity of gold and silver
Rappel
Follow a trail/tracking. Sterilize your trail - employ counter-tracking measures.
Use less-lethal weapons (baton, stun gun, pepper spray, etc.)
Metal working (blacksmith)
Lose a tail
Operate power tools
Construct a splint. Build a field expedient litter.
Open a can without a can opener
Drive a motorcycle
Construct a net
Identify animals by tracks and/or scat
Patch a tire. Fix a flat by plugging a tire.
Reload ammunition
Build a bow and arrow
Administer first aid. Perform CPR; Treat for a gunshot wound; emplace a torniquet; treat a sucking chest wound;
Identify venomous snakes. Treat for poisonous snake bite.
Accurately fire a slingshot
Make candles
Raise fish (for food)
Distill water/alcohol
Hot wire a car
Cook without a stove. Build a solar oven.
Survive heat injuries
Raise livestock
Find tinder
Create fertile soil. Develop a compost system.
Make charcloth
Properly store food
Survive a riot
Sharpen a knife
Butcher livestock. Field dress and butcher wild game.
Purify water
Make leather products (sheathes, holsters, boots, etc.)
Hunt and fish
Cast bullets
Maintain a bee hive
Use hand tools
Tie a knot. Be able to tie these knots: square knot, bowline and clove hitch

On his site, Jeremy advertises: "Are there any skills you think should be on this list? Let me know (in the comments box below)." Go to the link and give him some suggestions.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

From an article by Shepard Abellas on Intellihub.com titled, "Survival Food Company Urgently Contacted By FEMA – Is a War Or Disaster Looming?"

Not that I'm buying into this right now,...it could be as simple as spending end of the year funds. The way the government agencies work is that they budget funding before the fiscal year and through the next fiscal year they may not need nor purchase what they budgeted for, leaving excess money. And another thing about government agencies,...they do not turn back money as the next year they'll get less. Kinda counter productive wouldn't you say?

Anyway, I'll let the readers decide for themselves about any spending by FEMA, wasteful or nefarious as it may be.

The Article:

Recently my friend who owns a preparedness and survival food company was contacted by FEMA and the questions might scare you. My friend Matt, the owner of MyPatriotSupply.com was contacted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) by way of email, leading on that something is ready to pop off.

Matt being the patriot he is immediately contacted me with this disturbing news. He even provided screenshots of the actual email sent by a FEMA representative. The names and revealing information have been blurred out.

Matt of MyPatriotSupply.com wrote, “here we are, August 2013 and FEMA once again is trying to buy up large stockpiles of food. And they don’t want anyone to know it, and they want to take immediately delivery… I’ve studied history. That is what got me into preparedness in the first place. History has shown us time after time that those who depend on the government to come to their aid during a disaster are the ones waiting the longest for help. Sometimes help never comes…or comes too late.

I do not believe these critical emergency food supplies should be in the hands of the government, stored in some secret warehouse only to be brought out and distributed to their own agencies first, with the rest of us getting table scraps long after we need it.

These life-saving meals belong in the hands of people like you and me. This is why I declined the opportunity to sell to the Department of Homeland Security.

But let’s not forget the most important part of this: Why the sudden sense of urgency? What do they know that we do not?

I’m not one to cry that the sky is always falling, but when DHS/FEMA make a move to quietly buy up emergency food supplies and ask how much we can ship within 24 hours…I think this is far enough outside the realm of what is “normal” to beg some questions.

Fortunately I’ve been in this business long enough to predict what happens next. One or more of the other “survival companies” out there will inevitably see a chance to make a quick buck from Uncle Sam (which is really paid for by us, the taxpayer). This could create a run on many of the core raw ingredients used by emergency food makers that will cause a ripple effect throughout the industry as supply chains become bottle-necked handling the FEMA/DHS request.”

This is extremely disturbing to know.

What is the government gearing up for? A major disaster or war they know is coming?

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Anonymous left a new comment on your post Green Beret versus Doomsday Prepper: "I don't really disagree with this story. But I don't agree that 400 neighbors is necessarily better then going it alone. I can assure you some of those 400 neighbors don't like you and some want what you have. If you think politics and human greed will suspend itself until the crisis ends you are wrong. The difference will be that you will have enemies within AND outside. You will not know who is your friend. Those people who openly dislike you are probably harmless while those who dislike you but put on a fake front will probably do you harm. The lady down the street with three kids and a husband thrives on drama and enjoys turning one person against another. That middle aged quiet guy is infatuated with your wife and thinks if he could eliminate you he would have a chance with her. That sullen guy that never talks much is still pissed at you for parking in the street a year ago in a spot he thinks is for him alone. Some of these people will do you harm directly or indirectly and you probably won't see it coming. "

UrbanMan's reply:" I do not disagree with you. Most of us that have ever been involved with some sort of Mil or LE team would rather have a small team of trained and trusted individuals as opposed to having dozens of individuals with suspect motives and character.

Let's say you decide to Bug In. If you make no effort to develop your neighbors into at least a loosely based group for mutual support, then you face, potentially, a much larger close threat. Again, I agree with your supposition that you would have neighbors who dislike you, even hate you and want what you have be it supplies, weapons,...or as you put it "your wife". (side note: he would have no idea what he would be getting into!).

I think there will be several categories of people in your possible Survivor Group:

1. People who would gladly welcome leadership and assistance in the confusing chaos of the collapse. These people may initially be the least useful, but you would need the manpower to do everything from main observation posts and checkpoints; construct necessary things; garden and grow crops; procure and/or filter water; procure (scrounge) necessary items.

2. People who will worthless. Not able to do anything, but expect someone to take care of them because we have bred that into our population the last 50 years. You may be able to make some of the types marginally useful, but the trick is to not let them such up resources at a ratio that far exceeds their contribution.

3. There will be people who disagree with most or everything you would be trying to do such as establish OP/LPS, checkpoints, develop teams to garden, procure, etc. They may be disagreeing out of fear, or out of some character flaw like wanting status and power. There will be people who are jealous of you and your "stuff". There will be people who may exploit the situation to bully or harass or even sexually assault women. You would have to deal with these people in order to develop the bigger team. Use your "spidy sense" in detecting these people if their overt actions and words don't expose them first. Hunkering down by your lonesome, in my mind is not an option.

Let's just say, worst case scenario, you don't do any team building, ......don't interface with your neighbors,.......or anything. Then the collapse starts. Let's say it's an oil boycott, followed quickly by a stock market collapse and within days food deliveries to groceries and stores are drying up and the local government basically collapses as hyper inflation hits. Going to your nearest neighbors, the ones you think are approach-able and asking how they are doing and make some suggestions on security, protection, water storage, food stocks could only build rapport and enhance your standing with them. At a minimum they could become eyes and ears for you enhancing your security.

I have a bunch of FRS radios that I can give out to my neighbors, albeit at the right time, so we can communicate. I can replace their batteries periodically with my solar powered re-chargeable systems. If a neighbor makes comms with me saying he has some suspicious people lurking about, my choices are to address the potential or actual threat now or to wait until they try and loot my house. Me and mine? We're being pro-active.

Who knows maybe your neighbors have some skills that will augment your survival plan. Maybe the old lady down the street grows tomatoes and cans them. Maybe there is a young couple across the street wit hthe husband being a welder and his wife a practical nurse.

It is much better knowing all this before the collapse. It would makes organization much easier knowing your neighbors, having rapport, building respect between you and them now as opposed to when the collapse and therefore panic hits.

You are absolutely right about be wary of the shitheads, but you'll have to deal with them in order to build that community survival group for the benefit of all. Afterall, you can always Bug Out if need be.

Monday, August 5, 2013

We think, talk, plan and prepare a lot on the possibility or probability of some sort of economic or societal collapse. We discuss the indicators and the effects but never really mention the cause. That's probably because in some form or fashion that cause of the collapse will be politicians and our government. Through negligence, apathy, greed, idealogy, or even just plain stupidity the march continues to diminish our standard of living, our freedoms, and all this certainly makes the collapse look much nearer.

Here is another another article, called "Stupid to Tyranny", sent to me by a reader and written by William Horning on Constitutional Thinking. This article begins to lay out the argument,......

“The two aims of the Party are to conquer the whole world and to extinguish once and for all the possibility of independent thought.” George Orwell.

When you are either stupid, uninformed, or not thinking clearly, you don’t realize the time bombs are ticking for our country. Even the tea parties fall into one of these categories.

Professor Steven Yates wrote on America “Ticking Time Bombs” which could take down the country. First time bomb is political correctness, which is taught in the schools and promoted by the media. The government is the real problem, not whites, as it stirs up racial tension. The Zimmerman case was misreported from the start and improperly handled in court.

The second time bomb is Obamacare. “Its purpose … is to centralize sick care, fatten the profits of both Big Pharma and Big Insurance, and very possibly find a legal way of dealing with an aging population that will eventually break the Medicare and Social Security banks.” One researcher figures that the monthly health costs for a family of four will go up anywhere from 2-4 times.

While costs skyrocket, the quality of care will disintegrate. Patients over 70 had better not have anything major happen. Eventually care will be denied as they get an aspirin and a ride home. Cost cutting will demand it.

Our third time bomb is the employment situation. Full time jobs are declining and part time jobs are increasing. John Williams (www.shadowstats.com), a statistician/economist points out that the true unemployment rate is between 23% and 24%. It just isn’t so obvious due to government benefit programs. In addition, underemployment is growing. The outlook for improvement is not very good.

The fourth problem is the financial markets. The stock market is approaching record highs while the national debt approaches $17 trillion. The American people bailed out the banks that are making a killing while our economic health is declining. This situation won’t last.

Please note that all of these problems are created or allowed to happen by government. Our Criminal Congress, along with state legislatures, continues to make laws killing jobs, sovereignty, freedom, and honest government. We no longer have representative government. Our elected crooks only care about the power and rewards of being in office, not the Constitution.

The answer is to replace them with constitutional representatives. Devvy Kidd has written an article, “If You Ignore the Upcoming Primaries, We’re Toast.” I said the same thing months ago. The primaries are where constitutional conservatives can replace established Rhinos/Neocons. Tea Parties need to listen to this warning.

There are only approximately five months to prepare for the primary campaign. Instead of preparing, tea parties are doing stupid things, wasting time listening to current congressmen/state representatives, etc. They should be educating their members on the issues and how to recruit more members.

In 2010, 23 Tea Party Republicans were elected to the U.S. House, but most of them caved in right away voting to raise the debt limit, so candidates need education also. Tea Parties (or similar groups) should be recruiting candidates for every possible office. They should be planning a strategy to put the maximum number of “boots on the ground” and give financial support for the candidates.

I want to suggest that constitutional conservatives brush up on what real pastors believed at the time of the American Revolution. Then, they should get with their pastors and straighten them out. If that’s not possible, get out of that church. The churches are supposed to be leading our revival, but they are silent. Alexis de Tocqueville, searching for the secret to America’s success on his visit, stated that not until he entered the church did he learn, “why America was great and free, and why France was a slave.”

Today, we’re all slaves, because our churches are not engaged or are apostate. While 78% of Americas claim to be Christian, as Bradlee Dean, a preacher and talkshow host states, “effeminate hirelings have infiltrated the pulpits” and instead of preaching against sin, “they are attempting to cover it with false grace.” If we clean up our churches, we could have a strong force behind our push to restore

Friday, August 2, 2013

An article posted month back on the Daily Sheeple, written by Sobert Gummer, titled "Why You Should Think Like A Green Beret Instead Of A Doomsday Prepper". Visit his website often as he has some good article posted there.

This was sent to me by a reader who commented that he too believed in his Bug In plan as long as he can, and to work on developing his local suburban neighborhood into a post collapse survival team. Obviously any grouping of people will be much better off with the more work they can put into team building prior to the collapse, but sometimes this is not always viable. Not every neighborhood has a Home Owners Association which is a ready made organization, useful to communications and coordinating efforts. In lieu of an HOA, a neighborhood watch committee would be the next step and a ready made reason to walk the neighborhood and meet the dwellers. Anyway, great article by Sobert Gummer.

There is a disaster coming and you have a decision to make: Is it better to live like a rat in a hole (a bunker) or to network with your neighbors and organize your local area of operation? Sure, it’s a loaded question but it brings up an interesting point: That even the lone wolf can’t survive long by himself. We are social pack animals by nature and the stronger we make our local “pack” the better our chances of survival.

I’d rather have a local neighborhood of 400 organized, motivated individuals defending an area and watching each other’s back than to go it alone in a ten foot corrugated pipe buried in the middle of nowhere. And if we agree on this point, then it makes perfect sense to look at the Green Berets for inspiration.

The Green Berets are the U.S. Special Forces elite commandos who get dropped behind enemy lines and are tasked with organizing the local or indigenous population toward a specific goal. They are smart, motivated and trained in tactics that make them extreme force multipliers. This should be your goal as a prepper, because surviving alone is too big of a job. The days of “Liver Eatin’” Johnson, where a mountain man could live in the back country for years at a time, wasn’t even a high survivability endeavor back in the 1800′s. The odds that one man or even a small family can, “face it alone” are very slim. Sure, you might get lucky and pull it off, but personally I prefer to play the odds. And if we look at history, the odds on survival as part of a community are much greater than going it alone– which is why communities formed in the first place.

In a disaster scenario where there is No Rule Of Law (sidenote: See NutNFancy’s excellent Youtube video on WROL: Without Rule Of Law) there will be a power vacuum. People will be scared and afraid and this is where we as preppers need to be ready to step up and provide leadership. People will only huddle in their homes for so long and if an organizational structure isn’t set up quickly to utilize your neighborhood’s strengths and resources, then you may lose them forever.

First Things First

One of the first things that a Green Beret unit will do when deployed to an area is to set up an operational base in friendly territory that serves as both an operational and administrative focal point. The operational base is used for:

■Planning and Direction of Operations
■Communications Support
■Intelligence Support
■Logistical Support
■Briefing and Staging
■Infiltration
■Liason and Coordination
■Training
■Administration

Can you imagine setting up an operational base similar to what the Green Berets use by organizing your neighbors– perhaps at a local elementary school– and how it could be an asset in helping your community get through a Without Rule Of Law scenario?

Let’s compare two scenarios contrasting how modeling the Green Berets would work out much better for you and your family than modeling the typical character as portrayed on the Doomsday Preppers TV show:

A Tale Of Two Preppers

Timmy The Tool: Timmy has modeled his prepper plans in a similar manner to what he’s seen on the TV shows, including a buried corrugated pipe bunker that he’s stocked with two years worth of food for himself, his wife and his two kids, Timmy Jr. (9) and Susie (4).

Timmy lives in a non-descript suburban neighborhood in Bacon, Georgia. He doesn’t socialize or interact with any of his neighbors and the one’s who have made an effort to get to know him report that he is somewhat anti-social and odd.

When the balloon goes up, Timmy packs his wife and kids into his Chevy Suburban and gets on the road toward their buried bunker in the middle of nowhere. The trip is uneventful and Timmy hides his Suburban under a camouflage net and then ushers his family into the bunker.

Everything seems to be going swell the first night. But after seven days of living underground in a 10 foot by 40 foot bunker the kids won’t stop fighting and Timmy’s wife Helen is starting to show signs of emotional strain from being cooped up for so long without outside social interaction.

By Week 2 the radio stops working and Timmy can’t find where he put the backup radio. He’s now got a short temper and blames his wife, who’s close to the end of her fuse and can’t stop crying. Timmy’s daughter, on the other hand, has stopped communicating and their son spends most of his time escaping into books and has developed a strange cough. His wife is now begging Timmy to let them return to their home in the ‘burbs. But Timmy knows they must stay in the bunker in order to survive. It’s the only way at this point.

Two more weeks into the Crunch and Timmy’s wife has had enough. The boy is virulently sick and the antibiotics that Timmy had stored don’t seem to be helping. Their daughter has stopped eating and Timmy’s wife finally gives him an ultimatum: She’s taking the kids and returning to their home in the suburbs with or without him. Timmy weighs his options and decides that he can’t let her and the kids venture back to their house unprotected so he grudgingly packs their Chevy Suburban for the drive home. Or what’s left of their home. Looters have destroyed their neighborhood and most of the houses have burned to the ground because nobody organized the neighborhood into a defensive force that could have prevented the looting. Unfortunately, Timmy and his family will never make it home to see the wreckage because the highways are either closed or have been converted into ambush “kill zones” by marauding gangs before the military can restore order.

Meanwhile…

Ralph The Realist has adopted a different approach based on what he learned in the military as a Green Beret. Instead of withdrawing from his community he has taken proactive steps to deal with a “No Rule Of Law” scenario. Ralph is good friends with both the president of the neighborhood HOA and the principal of the nearby elementary school. Along with his wife and a couple of other friends of a similar mindset they have formed a prepper group and had begun taking action before the Crunch. Including storing ten 55-gallon drums of rice, wheat, beans and pasta in an unused storage shed at the local elementary school.

When news of rioting and societal breakdown begins to reach maximum velocity, Ralph and his group each begin to reach out to other friends and neighbors who – to no one’s surprise – are now very concerned about the current state of affairs, too. Many are open to taking action but nobody has a plan… except for Ralph and his group.

After the power grid goes down, Ralph’s prepper buddy, the president of the HOA, calls a neighborhood meeting and they discover that many of their neighbors have excellent skills that will help them survive the Crunch: One is a trauma nurse. Another is a welder. The guy down the street is a doctor and an avid hunter and there are several retired cops who live one block over.

Ralph asks for volunteers to form a neighborhood watch and almost everybody volunteers. They makes plans to barricade access to the neighborhood using old cars and RVs and set up a defensive perimeter. With roughly 150 families in their neighborhood there are more than enough adults with firearms experience to stand watch in shifts.

When Ralph’s son develops a strange cough, his wife takes her rifle and walks to the doctor’s house, a block over. She does not have to worry about leaving her house unattended since the “neighborhood watch on steriods” (hat tip: Rawles) is keeping the riff-raff out. The doctor correctly diagnoses her son’s cough and prescribes the right antibiotic. She then leaves her daughter to play with the doctor’s daughter for a few hours. The little one is coping with the Crunch as if it was a free day home from school: Fun!

After a week, Ralph’s son is feeling much better. His wife is happy and she has formed a gardening club with some of the other women on her block.

Three weeks later, Ralph receives word that things are still pretty crazy outside of their neighborhood. They’ve had a couple of gun fights when looters tried to gain access to their neighborhood but nobody was hurt. Word quickly spreads among the undesirables to leave Ralph’s neighborhood alone.

Everyone is coping reasonably well when a expedition group from another neighborhood proposes a trade of fish antibiotics (which can be used by humans) for some extra ammunition. The doctor advises Ralph that it would be a good trade, and since Ralph’s neighbor has a reloading press in his garage, they’re in no fear of running low on ammunition.

After another month, the military is finally able to get things under control and rule of law is restored.

A tale of two preppers: One a complete failure for adopting an ill-thought Lone Wolf strategy and the other successful after organizing his local neighborhood to withstand the perils of a Without Rule Of Law scenario.

About the Author: Sobert Gummer is the author of Sobert Gummer’s Survival Prepping For Hard Times web site. He has lived and traveled to some of the most dangerous cities in the world and has recently returned from living in South America where he fought off a home invasion with nothing more than a machete, married an Indian woman and had his head held over a fire by a Costa Rican witch doctor. He’s now back in the United States and prepping earnestly for an uncertain future while praying for the best. His latest book, Dogs For Preppers is now available at Amazon.com for your Kindle or Kindle app.